


The Man Named Joseph

by orphan_account



Category: No Fandom, Original Work
Genre: Detective, Drug Abuse, Murder, Original Character(s), Original Fiction, Other, Plot Twist, Short Story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-26
Updated: 2020-10-26
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:07:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27211687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: One evening a man suddenly walked into Edward  Bronanch's home, saying he wishes for help on a murder. But as the man describes the killings and goes into detail about why he's here. The detective begins to feel uneasy.





	The Man Named Joseph

Edward Bronach sat in his chair with his eyes closed in a dingy apartment on Arkenstone drive. The sun was hidden behind gray clouds, leaving the day to feel cold and dull. Edward waited patiently for a phone call. Why? He couldn’t tell you because he wasn’t so sure himself, he just felt like something would happen, and he guessed a phone call. 

It seemed like hours passed as he waited silently. He sat unmoving in his chair, almost as if time had frozen still. But that would change in approximately five minutes and fifteen seconds. 

Edward opened his eyes as he heard someone walk up the creaky stairs that led to his apartment. He heard the last step hit the landing and waited. The door creaked open, the person on the other side walking in, almost as if it was his friend's home or even his own.

Edward opened his eyes and watched as the man walked and stood in front of him. The man in question was tall and slim, he wore a gray suit and a navy blue tie, but the thing that caught Edwards's attention was the man's light Aqua eyes. He wanted to ask the man who he was, and why he barged into his home uninvited, but something stopped him. Making him feel as if he already some-how knew who the stranger was, and his intentions.

“What's your profession, young man?” The stranger asked as he looked around the living room, before sitting down on the black sofa across from Edward.

“Detective” Edward deadpanned, still staring at the man with questioning eyes.

“Then you can help me.” The stranger then took out a pack of cigarettes and put one between his teeth before lighting it and inhaling deeply. There was a moment of silence between the two, as they gathered their thoughts.

“If you’re going to walk in here uninvited, at least tell me your name.” Bronach finally said, breaking the silence.

“Joseph.”

“First name or last?”

“Doesn’t really matter, does it?” Joseph took one last drag from his cigarette before stomping into the wooden floor, leaving a burn mark, “I have something to tell you that’s way more important than a silly name.” Edward waited for him to continue.

“There's been a murder, I can’t give you the exact details for specific reasons, only that someones life has been taken, and the thief still walks free.” Joseph then took off his hat, ruffled his brown hair, and laid down on the sofa, feet dangling off. 

“And why did you come to me? I don’t really deal with murders.” Everything was confusing, Edward knew he should be scared, at least a little worried, but instead felt oddly calm.

“You’re the buzz lately, aren’t you Edward? Saw in the paper there isn’t a case you haven’t solved.” The detective was about to reply but was caught off when Joseph began to talk again.

“They got one thing wrong though,” he continued, playing with his fingers as if he were a child, “I saw nothing talking about your drug addiction.Or where you get the drugs. Or- well, you already know everything.” Joseph smiled.

Edward stilled. There was no way of this man knowing about that, he hasn’t told anyone about his addiction, not even his girlfriend, Amilia. 

“How do you know about that?” 

Joseph changed the subject.

“The murder is of a woman, blonde hair, brown eyes. The cause of death had to be strangulation. The murderer’s male has to have strong hands to do it in a matter of minutes, bruises are ugly little things. Ruining that nice neck she had, she even wore a necklace too.” Joseph flexed his fingers while he talked. Edward began to feel uneasy.

“I want to make the papers wrong.” The man continued, standing up from the sofa and pacing around in the little space that isn’t covered. “Saying you can solve any case, even murder, I’m going to prove that’s false. No one can solve anything. Everyone’s gotta lose, even you, Bronach.”

Edward sat up straighter in his chair, something wasn’t right, he could feel his heart rate pick up, he couldn’t tell if it was the drugs he took earlier or Joseph. Maybe both, he decided. Joseph continued, almost as if he was talking about the weather.

“There’s going to be five murders, four will be women, the last one a man. No fingerprints, nothing touched, no sign of struggle, yatta yatta... Except for the women I just told you about. That’s going to throw you into a loop but you’ll get it, anyway, you and your team won’t be able to solve it. But your teams are going to begin to notice something you aren’t, and it isn’t going to end well, Edward Bronach.”

Edward swallowed, he began to feel fuzzy with fear, he tried to push it down.   
“Why would you kill people only to prove an idiotic point to people, to me? Why do such heinous crimes?”

The man looked over and smiled with yellow teeth. The smile didn’t reach his eyes. 

“Murder isn’t that bad, is it? I mean we all die, why not forward it a bit for some?” He smirked before continuing, "I mean some even want it."

Edward felt like he was going to vomit, he needed to stop this.  
“You’ve shown me who you are, you gave me your name, I know what you look like, sound like, and your fingerprints are all over my home.” Joseph was looking at a red scarf hanging near the front door, the scarf Edward was known for wearing, the detective continued, “I have my phone right here, I could call in seconds, and you’d be locked up!” 

The man grabbed the scarf, stashed it in his suit pocket, and turned around. “You don’t really think I’m the one going to do it, do you?” The man saw the look on the detectives face before he laughed, “Oh no, I’m just someone who was sent here Edward, I’m not doing the murders, my name isn’t even Joseph. Don’t flatter yourself.” 

Edward felt hopeless. If there's more than one man working to kill these people, then it’s a lot bigger of a problem than Edward first thought. He began to holler, hoping someone would hear and come and find the man, put him in prison, and at least question him for an answer.

The detective didn’t get far though before he felt cloth cover his nose and face, he waved his hands around, begging for oxygen as the world slowly began to disappear, eventually drowning him in darkness.

Edward opened his eyes slowly, the smell of disinfectants stinging his nose. The room was white with blinding fluorescent lights, helping very little with his headache, he groaned and squinted his eyes. 

“Edward? Are you okay?” He heard a familiar voice call to him. Amilia. He forced himself into a sitting position on the hospital bed, turning to see Amilia sitting in an uncomfortable plastic chair next to him. “What happened?” he asked, closing his eyes briefly. 

“ Inspector Wilson came over to your apartment to tell you about a new case he found when you wouldn’t answer his calls, found you lying on the floor, drugged out of your mind, sent you here, and said you had an overdose. Why didn’t you tell me Edward?” she asked, her words laced with concern. He stammered, not knowing what to think, especially about the man named Joseph.

A month later Edward Bronach got called to a murder scene. When he got there he inspected the body of a blonde-headed woman named Riley Davis. While he was inspecting the victims bruised neck, he saw something red under her coat sleeve. He pulled it up gently, a strange-looking ‘n’ carved into her wrist, and after more inspection and no clues, he finally discovered a piece of a red scarf.

His stomach churned.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I hope you liked it, I wrote this a while ago and just found it and thought 'ah why not post it'. If you like it please leave kudos or a comment, it really helps. Have a good day :)


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